Has this happened to anyone?

[bigboremike]

hey everyone,
So i went and washed my car this morning (1993 325is) and right after leaving the wash my car died for a second but never shut off, the tach went to 0 then back to normal all inside of 3 seconds, but the transmission warning light is on now and when pulling away from a stop i dont think that i have 1st or 2nd gear...(my car is automatic) even when i try to down-shift into 1st and 2nd just to check, the engine does not respond or rev as is normal with a downshift, accelerating from a dead stop is slow up to like 35mph, it feels like the trans is only running on 3rd and 4th? any help would be great, if the trans is gone, its M3 time!!

thanks
mike

i checked the fault codes with the gas pedal trick and im getting a 1444 which is supposed to be all clear...

[TexasBMW]

This sounds like a typical ECM flooding problem. The air intake plenum fills w/ water and overflows onto the ECM nearby on the pax side firewall. You may have some water on the floorboard on pax side of car also. Water shorts some circuits and causes odd effects. It may or may not be fatal for the ECM.

I had this happen to my 318is when my wife drove through car wash.

Problem arises from the two or three rubber drain tubes that allow water to drain from the plenum during rain, car wash etc. The drain tubes have a pinched rubber end which traps debris and eventually no water can get by them.

Fix is to remove the drain tubes, clean, and re-install. They are difficult to even see and tricky to remove. You will need to remove the plenum top and perhaps a wiring harness to access the plenum.

good luck

[Jared at Pelican Parts]

I agree, sounds like water has gotten into the ECU. Sometimes you can let it dry out and get lucky..